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Genetic Counseling
Some cancers develop as a result of genetic factors that occur in families. These cancers are linked to abnormal changes (mutations) in genes that are passed from generation to generation. People with these mutations have a higher chance of developing certain types of cancer.
Just because a person has a relative who had cancer, it does not mean that cancer is hereditary. About 5 percent to 10 percent of all cancers are considered hereditary. Only a small proportion of some of the most common types of cancer – such as colon and breast cancer – occur as a result of genetic factors.
Families may have hereditary cancer if there are multiple people in the family with cancer, including more than one generation of family members with the disease. In addition, people diagnosed at a young age are more likely to have hereditary cancer. Some genetic mutations are more common among certain ethnic groups.
People with a strong family history of cancer may want to consider undergoing clinical genetics assessment with a genetic counselor and genetics physician. These professionals typically help patients document their family medical history and collect available medical records of family members with cancer. If a cancer risk appears to be hereditary, they may recommend genetic testing to identify specific gene alterations, typically performed using a blood sample.
Even if an individual is found to carry an altered gene, genetic testing cannot determine if cancer is present or when it may develop. It can only confirm an inherited tendency for the disease. However, genetic tests can help people make some medical decisions, such as determining the best plan for cancer screening or whether to pursue preventive therapy.
Who should consider cancer risk assessment and genetic counseling?
The following groups of people may want to consider cancer risk assessment, according to Siteman Cancer Center's hereditary cancer program:
- Any person with a family history of cancer who is interested in learning more about his or her family-based cancer risk
- Any person who has a family member with hereditary cancer or who has a gene mutation
- Any person who is considering prophylactic medical or surgical therapy because of his or her family history of cancer
- Any person who was diagnosed with cancer early in adulthood
- Any person who is interested in learning more about genetic testing for cancer.
Information about some hereditary cancer syndromes
There are many different hereditary cancer syndromes, some of which are listed below. For families with hereditary cancer, the word syndrome refers to risk for different cancer types due to the same gene mutation.
The specific name does not indicate all of the cancer types family members may be at risk to develop. For example, families with some of the hereditary breast cancer syndromes also may have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. Knowing the different cancers associated with each hereditary cancer syndrome allows family members to undergo earlier and more frequent cancer screening.
Breast-ovarian cancer syndrome 1 results from an abnormal change in the BRCA1 gene. Female family members have an estimated 80 percent lifetime chance of developing breast cancer and a 40 percent to 60 percent lifetime chance of developing ovarian cancer. Mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening as well as ovarian cancer screening are recommended for female family members with a gene alteration.
Breast-ovarian cancer syndrome 2 results from an abnormal change in the BRCA2 gene. Female family members have an 80 percent lifetime chance of developing breast cancer and a 20 percent lifetime chance for ovarian cancer. Other cancers are associated with this syndrome, including melanoma and pancreatic, prostate and gastric cancers. Mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening as well as ovarian cancer screening are recommended for female family members with a gene alteration.
Familial adenomatous polyposis is a type of hereditary colon cancer that results from an abnormal alteration in the APC gene. Individuals develop hundreds to thousands of abnormal growths (polyps) in the colon. Since any of the polyps may develop into cancer, removal of the colon is recommended. Polyps may develop in other areas of the digestive system, requiring lifelong cancer screening.
Familial melanoma results from an abnormal alteration in at least one of three genes. Families with familial melanoma have an increased chance of developing melanoma and may have an increased chance for pancreatic and brain tumors. Monthly skin self-exams and clinical examinations by a dermatologist every six months are recommended.
Lynch syndrome (hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer) is a hereditary colon cancer syndrome resulting from an abnormal change in one of at least five genes. Family members with lynch syndrome have an 80 percent lifetime risk of developing colon cancer. Female family members have a 40 percent to 60 percent lifetime risk of developing endometrial/uterine cancer. Other cancers, such as gastric or kidney tumors, may be associated with this syndrome. Colon cancer screening and uterine cancer screening are recommended, beginning at a young age. Other screening may be recommended based on family history.
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A) results from an abnormal alteration in the RET gene. Family members have an increased chance of developing medullary thyroid cancer, hyperparathyroidism (overactive parathyroid gland) and tumors of the adrenal gland (known as pheochromocytoma). Removal of the thyroid gland is recommended.
Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) syndrome results from an abnormal change in the VHL gene. Families with VHL syndrome have an increased risk of developing kidney cancer, tumors of adrenal gland (pheochromocytoma), as well as eye, brain and spinal tumors. Tumors found on the retina, located in the back of the eye, are characteristic of this syndrome. Evaluations of the eyes, kidneys, brain and spinal cord are recommended on a yearly basis.
Siteman Cancer Center's hereditary cancer program has experience with these and other types of hereditary cancer syndromes.
Cancer risk assessment and education
At the Siteman Cancer Center, genetics evaluation begins with risk assessment and education. A genetics physician and genetic counselors work with individuals to determine whether the cancers in their family truly suggest a hereditary tendency. The first step involves taking a detailed family history to determine which family members had cancer along with their age at onset and whether they developed other cancers as well.
This information is important because hereditary cancers tend to occur at an earlier age, and people with an altered cancer gene have a greater risk of developing more than one cancer. With a complete family history and personal medical history, patients can be given a rough estimate of their lifetime risk of developing certain types of cancer. They then can consider screening and risk-reducing options based on the level of their risk.
Various considerations help in making this assessment. The risk increases, for example, when many family members or multiple generations are affected or when family members have developed cancer at an unusually early age or in both sides of an organ, such as both breasts.
Typically, a genetic counselor helps patients document their family history and collect available medical records of family members with cancer when necessary.
The next step is for patients to meet with a genetics physician and genetics counselor to assess their family-based cancer risk and discuss appropriate surveillance procedures. If a cancer risk appears to be hereditary, genetic testing may be useful in identifying the most appropriate medical care.
Genetic testing
Genetic testing to identify a specific gene alteration may be recommended for high-risk families. It is typically performed using a blood sample. Not all people who pursue cancer risk assessment decide to have genetic testing.
Like all tests, genetic testing has benefits and limitations and entails many practical, medical and emotional implications. The most information can be gained when a family member with cancer is tested first so the gene alteration can be identified. However, this may not always be possible.
Even if an individual at high risk is found to carry an altered gene, genetic testing cannot determine if cancer is present or when it may develop. It can only confirm an inherited predisposition or increased risk for certain types of cancer.
Despite its limitations, genetic testing can be valuable. Results can help individuals make some medical decisions, such as determining the best plan for cancer screening or whether to pursue preventive medical or surgical therapies.
Clinical genetics assessment
Approximately 5 percent to 10 percent of all cancers occur as a result of hereditary or genetic factors that are passed on in families. This statistic should be reassuring: Although many people have relatives who had colon or breast cancer – types of cancer that are common in the population – the majority should not be concerned they are particularly susceptible to these cancers simply because a family member had them.
Hereditary cancer typically results from an abnormal alteration in a single gene that may then be passed on in a family. People with this altered gene have a significantly higher chance of developing certain times of cancer.
Additional resources
- Facing Our Risk – Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Information and Advocacy
FORCE is the only national nonprofit organization devoted to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
- National Society of Genetic Counselors: Find a Genetic Counselor
The Find a Genetic Counselor directory offers access to over 3,300 genetic counselors (US and Canada). Check with your insurance company to verify coverage of genetic counseling, testing and authorized providers.
- Lynch Syndrome International
Lynch Syndrome is a hereditary disorder caused by a mutation in a mismatch repair gene in which affected individuals have a higher than normal chance of developing colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, and various other types of aggressive cancers, often at a young age – also called hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer.


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BlackBerry 10 put to test against Windows Phone 8 and iOS in speed test videos
Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Microsoft, Videos,
GadgetMasters has uploaded two videos to YouTube that compare HTML5 benchmark tests of a BlackBerry 10 development device with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 device, and of course, the iPhone 5. See who comes out on top. RIM will launch BlackBerry 10 on January 30th in New York.
Click to continue reading BlackBerry 10 put to test against Windows Phone 8 and iOS in speed test videos
Read More | BGR
New BlackBerry 10 Screenshots show voice recognition, updated UI
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Software,
BlackBerry 10 is nearing its debut, and more screenshots have come out showing what's new in the BB10 operating system.
From the newest screenshots posted on Tihnte, it appears the BB10 is taking a book out of Apple's playbook and incorporating a smart voice assistant. Voice commands were announced earlier, and the screenshots show you will definitely be able to make dictations, but other functionality, if any at all, is unknown.
The screenshots also showcase BB10's Twitter client, which doesn't stray to far from the iOS and Android comfort zones. There's also some looks at the BlackBerry Hub and new visual stylings of the BB10.
Read More | Tinhte
RIM Sets Blackberry 10 launch date for January 30th
Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Software,
Remember RIM? You know, the maker of the BlackBerry, once so famous it was dubbed CrackBerry? Well, don't count them out just yet. It's made an official announcement regarding the launch of BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system and new smartphone hardware for January 30, 2013.
Click to continue reading RIM Sets Blackberry 10 launch date for January 30th
Read More | RIM
A look at the BlackBerry 10 home screen
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Software,
Research in Motion happily debuted BlackBerry 10 recently (conveniently skipping over BlackBerry 8 and 9,) showing off a Developer-only handset and a few software screenshots. Now we finally get a look at the home screen and app launcher. These are likely the two most important areas from a mobile OS design and usability perspective, and the absence of information was odd. What you see above are four apps running at once. Tap one, and it'll go full-screen. A swipe to the right brings up the app launcher, which looks as you'd expect--a grid of app icons. As always, we'll keep you posted on any other new information that RIM releases as the BB10 release draws near.
RIM BlackBerry 10 smartphones delayed, PlayBook written off
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds,
Research in Motion wrote off $485 million worth of PlayBooks that it was unable to sell, as net income and revenue both fell significantly from a year ago.
RIM also said that a delay in a key dual-core chip will push back the release of the company's first BlackBerry 10 smartphones to the latter half of 2012.
Both Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, the company's co-chief executive officers, said that they asked the company's compensation committee to reduce their respective salaries to just a dollar, even as a cross-management team works to cut costs. Balsillie said that the decision had been made because of a perception that the company's management had "fallen short" of expectations.
In all, RIM reported a number of future disappointments, even as the company's top line continued in the black, thanks to its success overseas. RIM was profitable, even through net income fell to $265 million from $911 million a year ago. Revenue fell 5 percent from the same period, from $5.5 billion to $5.2 billion.
"We ask for your patience and confidence and hope to report further progress in the coming quarters," Lazaridis said in a conference call with analysts.
Click to continue reading RIM BlackBerry 10 smartphones delayed, PlayBook written off
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subset: commoncrawl


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Why a BLA?
The BLA is the degree designed "your way." You choose which disciplines to combine in your own Liberal Arts degree program, with the guidance of a faculty advisor.
The BLA will help you gain critical life skills needed to adapt to a changing world, rather than being locked into a specialization. Students who earn a BLA acquire diverse skills in communication and critical thinking that qualify them for employment in both the private and public sectors. Some of those career options may include:
- Community Relations & Organizing
- Private & Public Office Work
- Social Services through Governmental or Private Agencies
- Business or paraprofessional positions that require technical writing skills and creative problem solving.
The BLA can also provide a solid academic background for advanced study in graduate school or professional programs. Some of those postgraduate study options may include:
- Business Administration (MBA)
- Elementary or Secondary Teaching (MAT)
- Public Administration (MPA)
- Other graduate programs or professional training according to your academic interests


text: Once you have played with a Graphene racquet, you will never want to miss out on the benefits it creates on every shot. Now imagine the next stage of this revolutionary technology: GRAPHENE XT, a new generation of HEAD racquetball racquets. We integrated the world's strongest and lightest material in a way that will create optimal weight distribution for a faster swing speed and even more power.


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News & Notes: Game 129
Monday, August 22, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) – Huntington Park
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com
Buffalo Bisons (56-72, 5th(-16.0), North)
RHP Miguel Batista (2-0, 3.92)
Columbus Clippers (80-50, 1st(+13.0), West)
RHP Jeanmar Gomez (10-6, 2.39)
TODAY'S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the third game of a four-game set at Huntington Park (7:05 p.m.). The Herd has won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 25-5. The Bisons now have won five of its last six games and eight of their last 11 games.
VS. THE CLIPPERS: The road team has won all six games in the season series between Buffalo and Columbus. The Bisons have won the last two nights and the Clippers swept a four-game set at Coca-Cola Field, June 11-14. The Bisons are 7-3 in their first 10 games in Huntington Park.
MIGHTY MIGUEL: RHP MIGUEL BATISTA is 2-0 in seven starts with the Bisons this season. The veteran has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last five outings. Batista is coming off his best start with the Bisons as he held Toledo to two runs (one earned) on four hits over eight innings on August 17. For the season, right-handed hitters have averaged just .150 (12-80) off Batista with no home runs and a .213 slugging pct.
HITTIN' HERD: With 10 runs last night and 15 on Saturday, the Bisons have scored in double-digits in back-to-back games. The last time the Herd accomplished the feat was June 4-5, 2010 in Norfolk when the team posted victories of 11-6 and 12-9. The last time the Bisons scored 25+ runs in back-to-back games was July 17-18, 2008 against Richmond (wins of 10-2, 16-3).
MR. VP: With 90RBI, INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI now leads all International League hitters by five RBI. He's the first Bisons player to reach the 90RBI-plateau since DH Ernie Young drove in 100 during the 2004 season. Pascucci is also the first Bison to slug 20+ home runs since OF Jason Dubois hit 22 during the 2006 campaign.
HIT KING: OF JESUS FELICIANO homered yesterday for his 97th hit of the season. The three-year Bisons' outfielder is now has 365 hits with the team since 2009, only 13 shy of Bill Selby's modern era record total of 378. With two more hits, Feliciano will tie INF Brandon Phillips (267) for the fourth most in the team's modern era. Feliciano led the International League with 154 hits in 2009 and collected 114 more last season in 89 games.
METS UPDATE: The Mets (60-66) lost to the Brewers, 6-2, on Sunday as the Brewers completed a three-game sweep of New York. Former Bisons OF LUCAS DUDA hit a two-run home run to account for both runs. RHP R.A. DICKEY allowed just two runs in seven innings but left with a no-decision. The Mets are in Philly tonight at 7:05 p.m.


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Pick a night. Any night.
Let's say last Friday. Fans are leaving Fenway Park in an upbeat mood. The voices create a chorus rippling up and down the concourses. It's a good vibe. The game is over. The Red Sox have lost to the Tigers.
What's wrong with this picture?
Nothing, actually. In fact, the Tigers swept the Red Sox over the weekend. It's not what the fans came for, but it wasn't going to ruin their day. They still stop at an inside-the-park souvenir spot and spend a few more bucks. They know it's only May. The Red Sox have been neither very good nor terrible. They're just … there.
These are some of the same fans who exited Fenway in a mood most foul, circa 2012. It was understandable. They had wasted time and money on a mostly loathsome bunch of fat-cat millionaires pretending to care about what they did for a living. The fans weren't stopping at a Fenway souvenir spot to pick something out. They couldn't get out of there fast enough.
A year later, after a major housecleaning, the Red Sox were at the top of the heap again. Pigs flew. A most unexpected World Series triumph can do that to a city.
Forty-three games into this season, the Red Sox are looking for a positive identity and a few hits with runners on base. It's frustrating when promising innings get blown up by a double play or a fly to right.
It's making John Farrell grayer at the temples.
You can't coach clutch. It comes from within. David Ortiz has embodied hitting in the clutch over the years, and continues to. Dustin Pedroia may not always come through — no one does — but Pedroia as a total package, his hustle, his brilliance in the field, his caring are all irreproachable. Next to Big Papi, Pedroia's the guy you'd want up in The Moment.
The worm has to turn, at least a little, to give the Red Sox a fighting chance to win. The need for clutch hits is even more necessary because three starters — Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront and Jake Peavy — barely get passing grades. This puts more pressure on the offense.
Jon Lester's account — "When we pitch, we don't hit, when we hit we don't pitch" — has been an unsettling refrain in the clubhouse.
Then everybody goes, "But it's early." And it is.
So maybe it's too soon to rag on newcomers Grady Sizemore and particularly A.J. Pierzynski. Just when you think Sizemore might be getting something going, he kicks back to grounding into outs. Let's see how many chances Farrell can give Sizemore. The Red Sox cut bait with Jarrod Saltalamacchia and counted on Pierzynski to add some punch. Not happening. He's come up in a lot of key spots. His outs have been mostly pathetic efforts.
Last year, the Jonny Gomes-Daniel Nava interchange in left field was terrific. Now? Gomes is hitting .233 and can't be happy with getting only 86 at bats. We absolutely know Nava's not happy in Pawtucket.
What to do, what to do?
Ben Cherington could seek a trade, or wait for the trade deadline. But what if the Red Sox have fallen hopelessly behind by then, and a trade makes no sense? Cherington could — and mostly like will — bring Nava back, and maybe a couple or two farm boys will join the big club.
It's possible Jackie Bradley Jr. has played his way back to Pawtucket. As for Will Middlebrooks, who knows? He's been, for the most part, a snakebitten young man. Or has his talent been overrated?
So the Red Sox and the paying customers wait until this team hits and pitches well at the same time. When the weekend ended, Boston's four-game losing streak was the longest — tied with Tito's last-place Indians — in baseball.
There have been a few sparks but no fire yet in the Boston baseball season. The fans keep coming and leave spirited, win or lose. The Red Sox should consider that a fluid anomaly.
Lenny Megliola can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Megliola: Support for struggling Sox strong, for now
Pick a night. Any night.


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Category Archives: Flash
Flash Mobile is dead :(
Clickogone on Android (Flash/Air app)
I just finished porting my game Clickogone on my phone HTC Magic.
Many optimization have been made, but the result is not perfect. The bitmap provides much better performance against the vector.
I must say that I'm running Android 2.1 (Eclair ROM by Luo and Cyanogen) on a HTC Magic. In addition it is the beta of Adobe AIR runtime.
A lot of good things to come with the final version of Adobe Air for Android
Android Flash/Air Game (test)
A port of my game Clickogone for Android using Adobe Air 2 for Flash CS5. Very promising. This is a test version.


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WATCH : HOLLAND – "Neverland"
The music industry is unique and ever-changing, and a singer from Korea has sparked a new following. Korean singer and songwriter Holland has recently made headlines for being considered the first 'openly gay idol' to debut within the heavily competitive music scene. By coming out and embracing his sexuality, many fans in Korea and around the world believe that Holland could be a catalyst for the still rigid Korean society and views on homosexuality. The newcomer released his first single "Neverland" on Jan. 21, kicking off the new year with…Read More


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"The Women of Roedde House Museum Tour" by local historians
Sunday February 5th, 2012
11:00am to 12:30pm
1415 Barclay Street
$5 per person, all proceeds to the Roedde House Preservation Society
*Tour followed by a reception & light refreshments*
maximum 20 people
To arrange pre-paid TICKETS contact: (604) 684-7040 or email@example.com or email email@example.com
(order your tickets early as we expect this event to sell out)
Roedde House Museum in Vancouver's West End is a late-Victorian home in the Queen Anne revival style, built in 1893 for the family of Matilda & Gustav Roedde, the city's first bookbinder. It has been faithfully restored with period furnishing and family artefacts to reflect the day-to-day life of a middle class, immigrant family at the turn of the last century.
TOUR by: Lorraine Irving, (BC Genealogical Society & Mt View Cemetery tours) will speak on the tragic 1925 murder of young nurse Anna Catherine Roedde at Vancouver General Hospital. Lara Campbell, (Herstory Cafe & SFU Women's Studies) will speak on Women & Domestic Service. Jolene Cumming, (Herstory Cafe & the Stanley Park History Group) will speak on Leisure & Recreational activities of the day.
More info: www.herstorycafe.ca and www.roeddehouse.org


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InBloom Sputters Amid Concerns About Privacy of Student Data
The education nonprofit inBloom burst onto the scene last February, touting a program to synthesize student data to help target the needs of individual children and revolutionize personalized learning. Backed by $100 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the company formed partnerships with nine states that together have more than 11 million students.
But instead of leading a nationwide movement to improve the use of student data, inBloom has sputtered. Six states initially listed as partners with inBloom dissolved their relationships with the company, leaving only Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York—and those ties are now uncertain. The state school board in Illinois recently announced that districts' use of inBloom was optional, plans to move forward in Massachusetts are unclear, and a lawsuit threatens inBloom's plans in New York.
Concerns about the security of student data housed online and the involvement of third-party vendors in storing the data have triggered most of the defections—even as the company and some observers say any risks are overstated.
"The conversation [around inBloom] has gotten very polarized and divorced from facts," said Douglas A. Levin, the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association. "InBloom, in some respects, has become a lightning rod for these issues, but they didn't create the issues, and these issues aren't going to go away, even if inBloom goes away."
To Partner or Not
InBloom provides school districts and states with a service that allows them to store data in an encrypted, cloud-based system. Educators can access that centralized system to pull together data that is usually stored in many different locations, often by third-party vendors. Though current clients are using its service for free, the company is phasing in a charge of $2 to $5 per student by 2015.
Organizers of inBloom, which is based in Atlanta, say their aim is to ease the burden on districts and teachers that devote significant resources to integrating and managing data across various educational applications. The company set out to offer a hub for states, districts, and schools to more easily manage the student data they choose to collect, and to help educators use such data to provide more personalized instruction, according to inBloom officials.
(The venture's main philanthropic supporters, the Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation, have also helped underwrite Education Week's coverage of the K-12 marketplace and innovation in education.)
Privacy issues are not the only reason inBloom has gotten the brush-off.
For the Chicago school system, one of inBloom's largest potential district clients, the decision to opt out of a partnership was strictly practical: The 404,000-student district had enough resources to manage student data on its own.
"For us, this isn't about inBloom or any third party per se," said Becky Carroll, the chief communications officer for the Chicago schools. "We have the means and resources to implement the program on our own, and therefore felt that there was no need for third-party involvement."
But parental concerns about the privacy of student data did prompt the 86,000-student Jefferson County, Colo., district to drop a pilot project with inBloom in November.
Superintendent Cynthia M. Stevenson said that a number of parents felt anxious about the prospect of storing data outside the district. While the critics weren't the majority, she said, the board of education decided to end its partnership with the company.
Organized Opposition
Criticism of inBloom brings together a group of allies across the ideological spectrum. Conservatives and libertarians who worry about students' privacy rights have joined with liberals who share such concerns but who are also deeply skeptical of a private company playing a primary role in collecting data on public school students.
Six of the nine states that inBloom originally listed as partners have completely cut ties with the student data management company.
- Colorado: The state began a pilot program with inBloom in Jefferson County. But the district's school board voted to cut ties with the company in early November.
- Delaware, Georgia, and Kentucky: Despite being listed as original partners with inBloom, the three states only participated as observers and had never made any concrete plans with the company.
- Illinois: After the state board of education decided that a partnership with inBloom would be optional, Chicago Public Schools decided to opt out. Without the largest district in the state participating, other districts must decide whether to stay with inBloom or follow suit.
- Louisiana: State Superintendent John White removed student data from inBloom in May and said that the department would continue internal discussions about data-storing best practices.
- Massachusetts: The state is considering whether it will move forward with inBloom now that the pilot program at the 6,700-student Everett Public Schools is complete, according to JC Considine, a spokesman for the state education department.
- New York: The Empire State is currently the only state with full involvement with inBloom. However, two lawsuits are pending that would halt the state's partnership, and state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the chairwoman of the chamber's education committee, Catherine Nolan, are among almost 50 Assembly members who backed a letter asking the state education department to put the plans on hold.
- North Carolina: While an inBloom pilot program was selected for the 74,000-student Guilford County schools, district officials have since dropped out.
In New York state, the fight against inBloom has an organized face: Class Size Matters. The education advocacy organization has become the rallying point for everything anti-inBloom. The group helped brief lawyers who filed legal action against the state education department, hoping to dissolve the state's agreement with inBloom, and its website is filled with criticism of the online data program.
"InBloom is only the tip of the iceberg," Leonie Haimson, the executive director of Class Size Matters, said. "It may be the most egregious example, but it is not the only example of companies that have their eyes on personal student data and are going to be data-mining."
Storing private student data on the Internet, or in the hands of third-party companies that participate in the data-sharing process without specific parental consent to allow access to personal data, is a serious concern for Ms. Haimson. She contends that districts and state boards of education should not be the ones to decide whether to share sensitive personal data with anyone, especially considering Internet-privacy concerns.
Ms. Haimson also fears that by aggregating a slew of student data, inBloom could become an attractive target for hackers. If the information falls into the wrong hands, hackers could release disciplinary records, disability information, or other pieces of data that could "severely damage a child's future forever," she warned. And even if that information remains secure, she said, she questions assurances by inBloom that the data will not be shared with other companies, outside of those authorized by schools.
"You don't build a $100 million company, which is what the Gates [and Carnegie foundations] put into it, not to share the data, just to collect it," she said.
InBloom spokesman Adam Gaber countered in an email that the company believes that technology can play an important part in education, and that the privacy and security of student data is a "top priority" for the company. He added that the company's contract, as well as existing laws in certain states or districts, hold inBloom liable for privacy breaches.
"If a security breach were to result from inBloom's failure to comply with these requirements, inBloom would be liable to the state or school district in accordance with the terms of its contract," he said in the email.
District Decisions
Sharren Bates, the chief product officer for inBloom, said in an interview that the company provides a safe way for schools to take ownership of the student data they choose to collect and to maximize the effectiveness of that data. By standardizing their data collection, she said, schools can cut down on individual program-integration costs and free up time for educators to use those tools to teach instead of worrying about uploading data.
She said safeguards ensure that the company does not have independent access to student data or the ability to grant others permission to see or use that information. InBloom gives the customer—a state, a district, or a school—the ability to access the encrypted data and allows only the customer to approve additional users.
"The school districts make all of the decisions about what users go in, what users have access, and what applications have access; inBloom makes none of those decisions and has none of that access," Ms. Bates said. "We don't use the data, we don't do analysis on the data; [we] can't even access the data unless we are directed to look at specific data by a customer while providing technical support."
But Ms. Haimson said that, in practice, the policy doesn't amount to the freedom districts expect. InBloom turned down a request from the Pearl River, N.Y., superintendent to delete data for that district's 2,700 students. Because the company entered into an agreement with New York state, inBloom contends that such decisions are reserved for the state to make.
Many critiques of the company amount to a fundamental disagreement over the importance of data-driven education. While to some educators and advocates, inBloom's approach could help fulfill the promise of personalized learning, to Ms. Haimson and others, there could be significant consequences in providing teachers with a data overload.
"It's a self-fulfilling prophecy," Ms. Haimson said. "The teachers that know which kids have had discipline problems or academic problems treat those kids a different way, and it really can affect your child's future in a lot of negative ways."
For Ms. Stevenson, the criticism brings up good points about the security and privacy of student data. But since the issue has become wrapped up in a national movement against inBloom, the Jefferson County superintendent said, some worries have evolved into a "mythology" that distorted her district's true plans.
"Of course, we wouldn't sell children's data," she said. "A, it's illegal, and B, unethical."
"Everything got connected that wasn't connected," she said of the opposition in her community. "And here we have these pure motives, that we want to give teachers good information and do a better job with kids, and it became something completely different than that."
Future Adjustments
As states and districts have broken off from inBloom, questions have remained about their commitment to developing personalized learning programs, as most such plans rely on robust digital platforms. If districts are unwilling to use third-party companies like inBloom and unable to develop their own in-house alternatives, it is still to be seen how districts will manage digitized student data for dashboard-type programs, which aggregates student data for teachers to use to customize learning.
While the Jefferson County school board voted to dump inBloom, it specifically instructed the Colorado district to continue implementing its classroom data dashboards. Forced to shift gears, Ms. Stevenson estimates it will take at least six months to develop a new plan.
"The issue is, now we have to either build or do [a request for proposals] for 'middleware'—"data-management tools similar to what inBloom provides—"because you need storage of data, and you need learning analytics that integrate the data and connect it to standards and grade-level expectations," Ms. Stevenson said. "When you are going to do the work from scratch, it's a whole different world."
Looking ahead, Mr. Levin of the state technology directors' group said: "I think, in many respects, the vision that was being sold by inBloom is one that might come true down the road if lots of other things happen. Some people were attracted by it, and some people were scared by it and confused."
Vol. 33, Issue 15, Pages 1, 13Published in Print: January 8, 2014, as InBloom Sputters as Data Privacy Hits the Spotlight
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Washington's Blog
October 16, 2011
Economists Want to End – Or Drastically Downsize – the Fed
Economics Professor and monetary expert Randall Wray told me that we should end the regional Federal Reserve banks, as they have such terrible conflicts of interest, strip out all regulatory power from the Fed (since it doesn't believe ine regulation, anyway), and implement monetary policy with a very small staff. He is not opposed to moving operations over to Treasury and/or the FDIC.
Professor of economics Steve Keen told me that he would pretty much limit the Fed to being a clearing house between different banks. In other words, in his view, the Fed could be stripped of all of it's regulatory, monetary and emergency bailout powers.
Economics professor Michael Hudson told me:
Before 1913 all the Fed's operations were conducted quite well by the Treasury. (David McKinley's book for the 1907 described this quite well a century ago.)
the Fed's aim was to Decentralize policy. The way things turned out, Wall Street leaders were given veto power. The role of Tim Geithner — in giving billions away in cash-for-trash trades the DAY before he was designed new Treasury Secretary (from his NY Fed position) tells it all.
But would the Treasury be different? The key is to put it back in the public interest, not Wall Street. Easier said than done.
[Congressman Dennis Kucinich's bill to nationalize the Fed, and his call on protesters to demand nationalization of the Fed] drastic, but it is the only way to check the fact that commercial banks create debt money recklessly, and now "casino capitalism" gambles that are bound to fail.
If we could implement the 100% reserve proposal and administer it correctly, I'm all for it. The government would NOT create credit for gambling, or ensure it.
PhD Economist Marc Faber said that protesters should Occupy the Federal Reserve:
Famed economist Milton Friedman wanted to end the Fed:
This evidence persuades me that at least a third of the price rise during and just after World War I is attributable to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System… and that the severity of each of the major contractions — 1920-1, 1929-33 and 1937-8 is directly attributable to acts of commission and omission by the Reserve authorities…
Any system which gives so much power and so much discretion to a few men, [so] that mistakes — excusable or not — can have such far reaching effects, is a bad system. It is a bad system to believers in freedom just because it gives a few men such power without any effective check by the body politic — this is the key political argument against an independent central bank…
To paraphrase Clemenceau, money is much too serious a matter to be left to the central bankers.
Austrian-school economists such as Murray Rothbard want to abolish the Fed:
Given this dismal monetary and banking situation, given a 39:1 pyramiding of checkable deposits and currency on top of gold, given a Fed unchecked and out of control, given a world of fiat moneys, how can we possibly return to a sound noninflationary market money? The objectives, after the discussion in this work, should be clear: (a) to return to a gold standard, a commodity standard unhampered by government intervention; (b) toabolish the Federal Reserve System and return to a system of free and competitive banking; (c) to separate the government from money; and (d) either to enforce 100 percent reserve banking on the commercial banks, or at least to arrive at a system where any bank, at the slightest hint of nonpayment of its demand liabilities, is forced quickly into bankruptcy and liquidation. While the outlawing of fractional reserve as fraud would be preferable if it could be enforced, the problems of enforcement, especially where banks can continually innovate in forms of credit, make free banking an attractive alternative.
I noted Tuesday:
The New York Sun reported that a … Nobel economist may have implied that the Fed should be abolished:
Thomas Sargent, the New York University professor who was announced Monday as a winner of the Nobel in economics … cites Walter Bagehot, who "said that what he called a 'natural' competitive banking system without a 'central' bank would be better…. 'nothing can be more surely established by a larger experience than that a Government which interferes with any trade injures that trade. The best thing undeniably that a Government can do with the Money Market is to let it take care of itself.'"
Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz strongly dislikes the Fed:
Joseph Stiglitz – former head economist at the World Bank and a nobel-prize winner – said yesterday that the very structure of the Federal Reserve system is so fraught with conflicts that it is "corrupt" and undermines democracy.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
- {openx:74}
Stiglitz said:
If we [i.e. the World Bank] had seen a governance structure that corresponds to our Federal Reserve system, we would have been yelling and screaming and saying that country does not deserve any assistance, this is a corrupt governing structure.
Stiglitz pointed out that – if another country had presented a plan to reform its financial system, and included a regulatory regime that copied the makeup of the Federal Reserve system – "it would have been a big signal that something is wrong."
Stiglitz stressed that the Fed banks have clear conflicts of interest, since the banks are largely governed by a board of directors that includes officers of the very banks they're supposed to be overseeing:
So, these are the guys who appointed the guy who bailed them out … Is that a conflict of interest?
They would say, 'no conflict of interest, we were just doing our job. But you have to look at the conflicts of interest"…
The reason you talk about governance is because in a democracy you want people to have confidence … This is a structure that will undermine confidence in a democracy.
Indeed, as I noted Sunday:
Given that the 12 Federal Reserve banks are private – see this, this, this and this– the giant banks have a huge amount of influence on what the Fed does. Indeed, the money-center banks in New York control the New York Fed, the most powerful Fed bank. Indeed, Jamie Dimon – the head of JP Morgan Chase – is a Director of the New York Fed.
Former Fed officials agree. For example, the former Vice President of Dallas Federal Reserve said that the failure of the government to provide more information about the bailout signals corruption. As ABCwrites:
Gerald O'Driscoll, a former vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said he worried that the failure of the government to provide more information about its rescue spending could signal corruption.
"Nontransparency in government programs is always associated with corruption in other countries, so I don't see why it wouldn't be here," he said.
In fact, many high-level economists have blasted the Fed for bungling virtually everything it does.
And while – admittedly – many mainstream Keynesian economists may be hesitant to question the Fed's existence because the Fed is a big part of the printing press on which Keynesianism relies (and the Fed has essentially bought the economics profession), the same arguments which Keynesians have made against the "too big to fail" banks apply to the Fed as well.
For example, Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman wants the big banks to be broken up becausetheir very size warps the political system:
My view is that I'd love to see those financial giants broken up, if only for political reasons: it's bad to have banks so big they can often write laws.
Former chief IMF economist Simon Johnson says much the same thing.
The Federal Reserve is an enormously powerful institution, which doles out tens of trillions of dollars –many to foreign banks and governments (and see this and this) – without democratic input of any nature whatsoever. While Fed apologists say that the bank's "independence" must be preserved, the fact that the Fed has sent trillions overseas shows the Fed is somewhat independent of American interests.
And the fact that the Fed funneled trillions to the biggest banks – instead of main street or public works projects – runs counter to the wishes of most people and of Keynes' actual prescriptions. (Keynesians speak of "saltwater" and "freshwater" schools of thought, depending on whether economists think money can be pumped anywhere and it will stimulate the economy, or it should be pumped in specific places. But the Fed hasn't done either, but has instead given huge sums to the big banks, and then encouraged them to park the money). See this and this.
Liberal Keynesians should oppose such a gigantic concentration of power – shielded from accountability to the people – on basic principles.
Indeed, both liberals and conservatives should despise something which runs so counter to the "separation of powers" envisioned in the Constitution.
Note: The American people want the Fed ended or at least reined in as well. See this, this and this.
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Want to fit into that little black dress?
Hi! I'm Shannon, a personal trainer based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. I'm a big believer in keeping your life in balance. Balance in work, at home and how you live your life. I use this principle when training people to be fit and healthy, whilst still being able to indulge in the guilty pleasures every now and then!


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Tax auditors running out of cheaters, ponder purpose in life
You know that the recession is getting serious when even the National Tax Agency is reduced to twiddling its thumbs. The amount of unclaimed income that tax investigators discovered last year was ¥19.2 billion, comprising a measly 189 cases, the lowest since 1978. Moreover, of all the cases they investigated, only 61.9 percent were prosecuted, the lowest rate since 1973.
It should be noted that these numbers actually apply to tax returns or lack of reporting that occurred in 2008, since it takes about three years for the agency to complete an investigation before deciding on whether to pursue prosecution. So these numbers could simply be a temporary dip owing to the fact that 2008 was the year of the Lehman Brothers failure that jump started the whole economic crisis. However, there are other factors at play.
A tax agency official recently told Tokyo Shimbun that "prosecutors' attitudes" changed after several recent scandals in which the legality of their methods were questioned, in particular that case in Osaka where a prosecutor cooked up evidence to nail a health ministry bureaucrat. Consequently, prosecutors are a bit gunshy about borderline cases that they would have pursued more aggressively in the past. In addition, over the years tax evaders have become more skillful at hiding income thanks to advances in information technology and the globalization of finances.
But a former tax official told Tokyo Shimbun that he thinks the quality of the auditing has also gone down. When he was an investigator, new recruits were trained under the strictest, most punishing circumstances. Veteran auditors put the screws to their underlings to make sure they were tough and relentless in getting as much evidence against tax scofflaws as they could.


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How can i test if the machine is connected to the internet, without windows prompting the user for a connection?
starting winsock and trying to connect to some website at port 80 or something similar will prompt.
I know there's some method to check for active RAS connections, is there a more general method??
thanks in advance,


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When the morning delivery of The New York Times brought news on June 27 that Harper Collins had canceled more than 100 titles from its publishing list to cut costs, Ellen Hawkes turned to her longtime companion, Peter Manso, and said: "We should be so lucky."
At the time they read the article in their Berkeley, Calif., home, Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso, accomplished book authors both, had been collaborating for almost a year on a biography of the deceased model and actress Margaux Hemingway for Regan Books, the Harper Collins-owned imprint run by publishing's brash wonderwoman, Judith Regan. The deal had been signed with high hopes on both sides-including an ABC-TV mini-series tie-in for the book, dreamed up and arranged by Ms. Regan.
But all was not well between the authors and their editor. They claimed they had not been in contact with Ms. Regan since September 1996. She had, however, made her presence felt in a phone call on June 6 to Ms. Hawkes' agent, Marion Rosenberg. "They are assholes, unprofessional beasts, reprehensible, unprofessional motherfuckers," she told Ms. Rosenberg (who took notes), by way of complaining about manuscript chapters that she had not received. Ms. Regan also allegedly threatened to "ruin" Mr. Manso's chances of working again.
For 15 months, the authors, their two agents, Ms. Regan and several other Harper Collins representatives battled one another in a barrage of correspondence. Ms. Regan reserved much of her most descriptive vitriol for Mr. Manso, calling him, in one memo "a reptile, a weasel" and someone with a "dog-shit reputation."
One of their many editors, at Ms. Regan's behest, wrote them that Margaux Hemingway "is symbolic of an era of excess, of discarding women when they age; men used her her whole life." He then asked: "Who killed Margaux?" The answer: "We all did."
The authors themselves were no shrinking violets when it came to memos. "Judith (and we) have all along thought of this as a 'woman's' book," they wrote to Mr. Manso's agent, Elaine Markson, when they learned that Ms. Regan wanted a shot of Hemingway "with breasts visible under [a] sheer wet dress" on the book's cover. "We must prevail on whoever at this publishing house might have some standards of taste, as well as marketing and common sense, to put a stop to this ill-conceived notion immediately." Ms. Markson at one point wrote Harper Collins' general counsel, James Fox, "Please inform Regan Books that, like E.E. Cummings, there is some shit I will not eat."
Believe it not, things are now worse. On Oct. 17, Ms. Regan rejected the authors' manuscript, which had been titled American Girl . A few days after, the authors learned an additional bit of information that they contend is significant. Ms. Rosenberg called Frank Konigsberg, whose production company was going to produce the Hemingway project for ABC, to let him know that Ms. Regan had canceled their book and to see if he might still be interested should the book be picked up by another publisher. It was then that Ms. Rosenberg learned that one of the points holding up Mr. Konigsberg's deal with ABC was the size of Ms. Regan's fee. The authors contend that when Ms. Regan suspected her TV deal might not fly, she pulled the plug on their book.
Although Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso claim their contract was violated on a number of counts and have retained attorney Jerome Traum, they told The Observer that as of press time, they had no plans to take legal action. They, as well as their agents, have decided to go public about their experiences.
Meanwhile, the usually outspoken Ms. Regan has remained mum on this subject. She declined to talk to The Observer and instead chose to issue a statement through Regan Books' marketing director, John Ekizian, who denied that Ms. Regan canceled the book because of the stymied miniseries.
According to Mr. Ekizian, American Girl was "deemed unacceptable by Regan Books last month and canceled." He added that "Mr. Manso failed to honor the terms of his agreement by failing to cooperate with the Harper Collins legal department's vetting process, including the identification of key sources, the refusal to provide photo permission that was necessary to the book's content and failure to respond to the professional judgment that the book was excessively long and required substantial cutting."
"Bullshit," said Ms. Markson, who explained that her clients were ready and willing to cooperate on every front and were simply waiting, as is traditionally the case, for "editorial acceptance" of the manuscript. "Why would you give a book to the legal department for vetting, and waste their time and money, if it weren't accepted editorially?"
Mr. Traum told The Observer that his clients were "willing, at the appropriate time, to meet with the lawyers and to justify every factual statement in the book."
Meanwhile, Mr. Manso sounded fairly apoplectic. "These are smear tactics," he said. "It's wrong. It's demonstrably wrong. It's demonstrable slander." He seemed further vexed that Ms. Regan seemed to be singling him out in this whole deal. "Why is this Manso, Manso, Manso?" he said, then answered his own question: "It goes to Regan's vow to destroy me. Either that, or she's the biggest fucking sexist on earth."
Ms. Hawkes offered a more psychological explanation, saying that Ms. Regan may have focused on him because "he is the male who is rejecting her."
Mr. Manso, who admitted that initially he was seduced and charmed by Ms. Regan, characterized his editor in another way. "We made a pact with the devil, we did," he told The Observer .
It wouldn't be the first time that Ms. Regan has been fingered as publishing's Antichrist. She has a foul mouth, a tabloid sensibility and a desire to be a Hollywood producer. ("She's a latter-day Harry Cohn," said Mr. Manso, referring to the late, heavy-handed Columbia Pictures president, "except she doesn't have Harry Cohn's taste.")
On the other hand, Mr. Manso-who is certainly the more talkative of the American Girl duo-knows, too, how to turn out a hypermuscular quote. ("Judith Regan does not believe in the soul," he said at one point.) According to one person involved in the making of American Girl , when tension ran high, Mr. Manso tended to "seize on all sorts of small things and blow them up out of proportion."
A closer look at the chain of events-and the extensive correspondence that resulted among the authors, the agents, Ms. Regan and representatives of her imprint-reveals the anatomy of the book deal from hell. And it reveals the rift between publishing's old school, represented by Ms. Hawkes, Mr. Manso and their agents, and the new school, where Ms. Regan has written a number of the rules.
A Miniseries, and They Were Hooked
When Mr. Manso first met with Ms. Regan, he was coming off his 1994 biography of Marlon Brando ( Brando ), a book that he spent seven years-an eternity by current publishing standards-writing for William Morrow & Company before moving it to Hyperion. Ms. Hawkes was also no stranger to complex, even difficult book subjects. In 1993, she had written about the warring wine-making Gallo family in the critically well-received Blood and Wine Prior to those efforts, Mr. Manso took on Norman Mailer ( Mailer: His Life and Times ), and Ms. Hawkes the Ginny Foat murder case ( Feminism on Trial ).
Mr. Manso, whose meeting with Ms. Regan was set up by his agent, Ms. Markson, told The Observer that, initially, he liked Ms. Regan's "moxie." It was Ms. Regan who broached the idea of doing a book about Margaux Hemingway; it was she who also had the idea that the book be turned into an ABC miniseries. (Mr. Manso said that he, too, had had the idea for a TV tie-in.) According to Mr. Ekizian, Ms. Regan had successfully pitched the series to ABC before attaching Mr. Manso and Ms. Hawkes to the book. Mr. Manso, who called the lure of TV "undeniable," was hooked.
At the time, Mr. Manso said, the Hemingway book "was envisioned as a happy opportunity to write a quick book about a decent subject where one could put some money in the bank."
Sources familiar with the deal put the American Girl advance in the low-six figures, not including the anticipated money from the television deal. (Mr. Manso would not confirm this.) But the first signs of trouble arrived with the deal memo, dated July 29, 1996. Although Ms. Rosenberg is Ms. Hawkes' literary agent, she is by trade a talent agent whose clientele consists largely of actors, directors and screenwriters. She has also served as a producer on numerous films, including The Deer Hunter and The Missouri Breaks . Hence, Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso decided that Ms. Rosenberg would represent the couple on matters pertaining to the Hemingway TV project, and Ms. Markson would handle their book contract.
Ms. Rosenberg noticed that the deal memo called for Regan Books to serve as the agent in the television deal (which would bring Ms. Regan a 10 percent commission) and for Ms. Regan to serve as an executive producer of the resulting TV project. Given that one of a producer's jobs is to keep a lid on the production costs, whereas an agent's responsibility is to get her clients paid, and as handsomely as possible, Ms. Rosenberg reckoned that a potential conflict of interest existed. She called Ms. Regan to ask her to better explain the deal.
Ms. Rosenberg said that Ms. Regan initially told her that she didn't want to "talk to any fucking Hollywood agents," but then said, "I always protect my writers." Ms. Rosenberg said that Ms. Regan also said that she would not sign off on the publishing deal unless she was handling the TV rights. "She said it was a deal breaker," recounted Ms. Rosenberg. "From that moment on, I was on the sidelines."
Said Mr. Ekizian: "Mr. Manso's representatives and agents knew exactly what he was agreeing to."
Told to Get a Book Doctor
Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso went ahead with the deal. But by mid-November 1996, said Ms. Hawkes, "it was real clear" that the couple's mid-December deadline was "unrealistic." ("They covered a lot of ground in a real hurry," said one Regan Books insider, who nonetheless added: "Frankly, I don't know how they could have hit that schedule.") The authors agreed to hand in a draft of the first half of the manuscript by Jan. 1, and Regan Books agreed to move the book from its spring to its fall list.
Regan Books' response to the draft took Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso by surprise. Mr. Manso said that Kristin Kiser, the editor handling their project, informed them that they needed a book doctor-industry parlance for a rewrite man-and that the $16,000 to hire one would be deducted from their advance. Ms. Kiser, who now works at Crown, declined to comment. "I'm not saying I'm Henry James, but I am saying this is preposterous," Mr. Manso told The Observer .
Enter Ms. Markson: "I said there's no reason for us to pay for a book doctor. These are real writers. What they need is an editor." Regan Books then picked up the tab for the services of Noel Greenwood, a freelance editor based in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Mr. Greenwood declined to comment, except to say, "Giving birth to a book is an ordeal. It's a tough process, and people get very emotional. So naturally there's some tension back and forth."
Sources familiar with the American Girl manuscript said that Mr. Greenwood was brought in to focus and shape the book. The manuscript that Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso turned in, said one of the sources, was "a very journalistic account" that was not easily molded into a book "that moved along in a literary fashion" or, perhaps, that would easily translate into a high-concept TV movie or miniseries.
Ratcheting up the tension was the rush to get the book done. It has become the new modern problem of the publishing world. More and more, readers-sated on the media coverage that results when a celebrity dies or becomes involved in scandal-are ready to move on to a new scandal long before a book can be published.
Hence, today's book-publishing schedules resemble yesteryear's New Yorker deadlines. One source who worked on the book said about American Girl , "the more [Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso] scrambled and started to bust their deadlines, the more nervous people in New York got. Then Peter and Ellen got nervous, and it fed on itself. There was constant tension and anxiety." (For the record, the writers said, they never missed a deadline.)
By May, the tension levels continued to notch up. Mr. Greenwood had left for a long-planned three-month vacation in Ireland, and the authors groused that they were spending hundreds of dollars to send computer diskettes carrying chapters of their manuscript-via Federal Express-to Galway. Meanwhile, Ms. Kiser left for Crown. Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso were informed that their new in-house editor was David Craig. Mr. Craig had heretofore been working as a vice president of film development for Ms. Regan's company and, according to the authors, had little experience in book publishing. Mr. Craig, who has also since left Ms. Regan's employ, declined to comment.
On May 23, Mr. Craig sent a letter to Mr. Manso and Ms. Hawkes telling them that June 20 was the "drop-dead" date for a final, edited manuscript. It required, he wrote, that the authors turn in their final chapters sooner than planned and take less time to review Mr. Greenwood's edits.
Then, in her June 6 phone call to Ms. Rosenberg, Ms. Regan blew. She charged that Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso had not delivered the manuscript and photos for the book as promised and were in breach of contract. Mr. Manso explained that the couple were holding on to the first and last chapters and the photos for the book because they were afraid, as Mr. Manso would write in a memo to Ms. Markson a few days later, that Ms. Regan was going to "ram the Greenwood edit into production without giving us time to review it."
On June 27, Harper Collins' general counsel James Fox stepped into the picture with a letter to Ms. Markson, reassuring her that her clients would have time to review the final manuscript, although Mr. Fox added that the authors could reinstate only those passages that were "absolutely necessary" to the accuracy or clarity of the book. Mr. Fox then added that he trusted that the authors would now send in the rest of the manuscript and the photos.
On July 22, the authors' latest editor, Jeremie Ruby-Strauss, wrote the authors to say that Ms. Regan felt that the first and last chapters of the book needed "more." Mr. Ruby-Strauss flexed his own muscles, writing that his interpretation was that the book needed perspective and conclusion. "Well, if I just read 256 pages, I want to learn something about life, something about me ."
Margaux: Up for Interpretation
From its inception, the deal for American Girl had been one long struggle for control between Ms. Regan and the authors. Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso had allowed Ms. Regan to be both executive producer and their agent on the TV deal, but now they were determined to resist what they said were Ms. Regan's attempts to remold their sympathetic portrait of Margaux Hemingway into a lurid cautionary tale about the pitfalls of celebrity and the wild 70's. Researching their book, the authors said that they were touched by Hemingway's battle with epilepsy and depression. "This story softened me up and knocked me on my ass," said Mr. Manso.
Three days after the final manuscript had been submitted, Mr. Ruby-Strauss sent Ms. Marks a fax informing her that Ms. Regan wanted to appeal to her "sensibilities as a woman" in order to better shape American Girl . Via Mr. Ruby-Strauss, Ms. Regan argued that the "Hemingway hex" (Hemingway's grandfather, Ernest, took his life) was not enough. "What did it mean to be a woman, childless, not investing in a family, opting instead for glamour?" Ms. Regan wanted to know. "What happened to those women when beauty fades and men stop desiring them?"
Ms. Hawkes was outraged. Until this point, she said, Ms. Regan had virtually ignored her. The following day, she wrote to Ms. Rosenberg. "Perhaps Judith is so crazy that she's trying to write her autobiography (and address her worst fears) on the back of Margaux's biography," Ms. Hawkes wrote. "And it should be noted, whether Judith likes it or not, Margaux never lost her looks and desirability to men."
"How can Judith hope to 'appeal to my sensibilities as a woman,' when she's repeatedly offended my sensibilities as a woman, as a real feminist," Ms. Hawkes continued. She then voiced what both authors had begun to suspect. "Tell her to read the entire book, not just Chapter 1, and all her questions, if not her own fears, will be answered."
'What the Hell Is Going On?'
In another three-page letter to Ms. Rosenberg dated Aug. 19, Ms. Hawkes asked, in capital letters, "What the hell is going on?"
On Aug. 29, an annoyed-sounding Mr. Fox wrote Ms. Markson to point out that, despite her claims that Regan Books had been incommunicado for several weeks, he had been talking to her about American Girl "at least once, and often more than once" every day. He then informed her that the book had been moved to the winter list, and that it would not be considered for acceptance until the authors had responded to queries from Mr. Greenwood "on factual matters" and had provided Regan Books with photo permissions.
Ms. Regan finally weighed in with a three-page letter to the authors that arrived in the second week of September. Once again, Ms. Regan called for a broader perspective at the book's start and close. The fact that her suggestions were limited to the first and last chapters further demonstrated to Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso that Ms. Regan had not read the manuscript. But there was one additional point. On Aug. 31, Diana, Princess of Wales, had perished in a Paris car accident, and the implications of her early death seemed to be on Ms. Regan's mind. "Like Princess Diana, she was a bauble for some and was betrayed time and time again," Ms. Regan wrote.
Finally, Ms. Regan wrote that she had a much more "arduous" task for the couple to attempt. The book was supposed to come in at 100,000 words; instead, it came in at 160,000. She explained that the target market would "hesitate" to pick up "such a weighty tome," that its size made it "prohibitive to sales." She wanted 20,000 words cut from American Girl .
With their attorney Mr. Traum in the picture, Ms. Hawkes and Mr. Manso said, they agreed to some concessions. Still, they said, they remained in the dark until mid-October, when Ms. Regan pulled the plug on their book. They have not been paid the rest of their advance, and Mr. Manso claims he is out $50,000 of his own money that was spent on researching the book.
As Ms. Markson sought a new publisher for American Girl , Ms. Rosenberg sought to salvage the TV deal, and Mr. Manso and Ms. Hawkes had fended off a Page Six item on Nov.11, the flurry of activity recalled yet another memo that Ms. Markson sent to Mr. Fox on Aug. 25. In it, she wrote: "To assume we will all live happily ever after requires a wilder stretch of imagination than even I can muster."


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Wood Tool Chests manufactured by the Pilliod Lumber Company in Swanton, OH
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When The Ship Comes In
by Peter, Paul and Mary
A complete(ish) Peter, Paul and Mary Songbook(400+ songs) with lyrics and chords for guitar, ukulele banjo etc. Also with PDF for printing.
Peter, Paul and Mary Songs Index
Titles A-G
Titles H-K
Titles L-R
Titles S-Z
Main Menu
Singing &Playing
Order&Order Info
Voucher Codes
Share page
Visit Us On FB
Download When The Ship Comes In as PDF file
(For printing etc.)
Subscribe to The Traditional Music Library mailing list


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Months after the sixth season of the Real Housewives of Orange County finished airing on Bravo, Alexis Bellino is speaking out on the difficulties of doing the hit show.
In a new interview with the Miami Herald, Alexis, who experienced some financial difficulties on the show and is well aware of the "Jesus Barbie'' nickname given to her by fans because of her strong faith, reveals that being on the show can be very stressful.
"It's definitely stressful being on [ Housewives],'' admits Alexis, 34. "You go through your life in front of the entire nation. If you have one bad episode, everyone's mad at you.''
Alexis acknowledges she receives a lot of that criticism from the web. "There is a lot of bad blogging out there,'' she says, adding: "Every person who comes up to me in public is very positive and super kind." Alexis adds that she has learned to stay away from the negativity. "My rule is: I stay off the Internet, I don't Google myself. I don't read what other people have to say about me.''
She however adds that being on the show has made her tougher. "I used to be sick to my stomach all night long, just devastated,'' she says. "But now I have a tougher skin. It takes a lot to upset me now. My family is happy, and that's all that matters.''
Alexis also reveals she continues to focus on her Alexis Couture clothing line. In the meantime, she is uncertain about a return to the RHOC for a 7th season as Bravo has yet to make any official announcements. Filming on the new season will however start soon as it typically starts towards the end of summer so we will find out any day now who will be returning and who will not. My guess is Alexis will likely get the axe unless her husband Jim Bellino changes his mind about filming. Jim decided early on during the filming of the 6th season that he no longer wanted to appear on the show.
And finally, Alexis posted some new photos on her personal facebook page including a bikini photo from the 4th of July weekend, another photo of herself sporting a barely there bikini from this past weekend in Miami plus a pic of her and Jim at the Del Mar Races. All those photos are below!


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(Sermon to Myself)
Today we had the 40th Day memorial service for Barbara. As I pondered how well she took her suffering, how she bore each new horror that befell her with inner calm, and never complained, it suddenly occurred to me that can't think of when I have ever not complained – and my little tests are no more than dandelion fluff compared with hers!
What does it mean to protest, to complain, to strike back, when things don't go my way? It means I am not content with what God has sent to me, or at least has allowed to come to me. It means I fail to exercise the faith which says it is all for my own good, to help me grow. It means I turn up my nose at the Doctor's medicine. It means I am proud enough to think this is not fair, not as it should be, or even that I was somehow entitled to better.
But, self, if you could simply follow your little sister's example and stop complaining! Stop complaining both inwardly and outwardly, then what? It wouldn't mean you just wink at evil. Barbara fought against her cancer as hard as any human being could. One must continue to fight evil, but must begin with the evil within. If whenever you are insulted, mistreated, whenever someone demands too much of you, when you are cheated or lied to or inconvenienced, if you could simply stop complaining, and say to yourself, "This is no more than I deserve for my sins," and if you could truly appreciate that this is no mere rhetorical device but the sober truth, if you could do the opposite, namely, bless those who curse you and pray for those who despitefully use you – ah, then, in the course of learning that, you would have conquered your baser ("fleshly") self and have freed your spirit. In other words, if you simply stopped complaining, you could and would become a saint.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Spirituality in a Nutshell: Stop Complaining
(Sermon to Myself)
Posted by Anastasia Theodoridis at 7:51 PM
Labels: Christian Life
2 comments:
- Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...
Memory Eternal to Barbara....
hugs and prayers to you and your family, Anastasia......
- April 14, 2008 at 2:51 AM
- Anastasia Theodoridis said...
Thanks much, Elizabeth.
- April 14, 2008 at 10:28 PM


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Big fifth backs Stinson
A balanced offensive effort and a quality start by Josh Stinson helped the Bisons even the series at one with the Charlotte Knights with a 7-5 win Sunday afternoon at Coca Cola Field.
The Bisons filled the stat sheet with seven players recording hits, seven scoring a run and six driving in at least one.
The Herd broke through against Knights starter Matt Zaleski in the third, set up with the bases loaded and no outs. After a Valentino Pascucci strikeout, Jason Botts drove in his first run with the squad, reaching on a fielder's choice that scored Michael Fisher.
Bubba Bell, Jesus Feliciano, Chin-Lung Hu and Raul Chavez each drove in a run in the fifth, each with RBI singles over just five pitches. Chavez later added another RBI, with a single to knock in Hu in the seventh.
"It was great to see all those two-out hits," manager Tim Teufel said. "We haven't had an inning like that in a long time where four guys came up and delivered and we certainly got that today."
Pascucci added to the lead the next inning with a deep solo shot to left field off of Zaleski and out of the ballpark.
Hu recorded his first three hits with the team after going 0-for-4 in his debut Saturday night. The Taiwanese infielder started the season with the Mets, but the major league club sent him down for more at-bats.
"He didn't get much playing time up there and was used sparingly," Teufel said. "I think he's going to be that guy that we bounce around a little bit. We're going to put him at different positions."
Hu agreed he's in Buffalo to see more time.
"The reason they sent me down was to get more at-bats and get hot and not sit on the bench and I can't do anything about that," Hu said.
Stinson allowed three runs (all earned) over 6.1 innings on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
Teufel said the big inning helped Stinson on the mound.
"It gives Stinson a little breathing room, which I think he needed and he hasn't had that," Teufel said. "He had an outstanding outing."
Charlotte hit three solo homers, two by Dayan Viciedo and another by Michael Restovich in the ninth. After the leadoff blast by Restovich, Dale Thayer rebounded to close out the game for his fourth save.
Game Notes: Before the game, the Mets transfered infielder Jonathan Malo to AA Binghamton… Major leaguer Bobby Parnell continued his minor league rehab, recording one out after walking a batter and allowing a double… Pascucci's home run marked his team-leading 21st RBI.


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National Wildlife Federation (NWF), publisher of Ranger Rick children's magazine, is releasing a new magazine and related app for a younger age group.
Ranger Rick Jr. will feature specially designed content for children ages 4 to 7. The magazine is designed for beginning readers and is packed with intriguing animal facts and photography. A new character, Ricky Raccoon, will guide children through the 36-page magazine, with the first issue set to release in December.
Every issue will feature Green Time, a page of activities aimed to get kids outside so they can experience wildlife in their own neighborhoods, and Ever Wonder, which will answer kids' elusive questions about nature.
Though the magazine focuses primarily on photos and activities rather than text-heavy articles, Ricky and Pals gives adults the chance to read fictional stories about Ricky Raccoon to children.
A subscription to Ranger Rick Jr. will include 10 issues of the magazine. Ranger Rick Jr. will also be available for purchase on newsstands, and digital editions of the publication are available for the Nook at bn.com and Kindle at amazon.com.
The app, Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures, is a storybook app designed for iPads. Kids can make their way through animal adventures using the explore, create, and play options. The first app in the series will focus on lions, as Ricky Raccoon appears with his pal Lars the Lion to take children on an animated trip through the grasslands.
With the Interactive Photo Story kids can discover interesting facts about lions while watching videos, looking at animated infographics, and listening to animal sound effects. In Photo Safari, kids can count the lions in Lars' pride while snapping photos along the way. With Trail tales, kids can write fill-in-the-blank ad-lib type stories, and with the Animal Builder they can create their own hybrid animals.
Every page is designed to have hidden elements kids can touch and discover in addition to the games, facts, and images. "We wanted to be informatie but we wanted to build play and creativity into it," said Lori Collins, editor-in-chief of Early Childhood Publications.
The interactive app will be available for purchase in the iTunes App Store this week.


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A former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture is stepping into an advisory position with the Environmental Protection Agency. Additional details are available in the following press release:
(Kansas City) – EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks announced the selection of Josh Svaty, who just served as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, to be his senior adviser.
"I look forward to working closely with Josh on the range of urgent environmental issues we face," said Karl Brooks, regional administrator. "His varied experiences representing a rural district in the legislature and handling complex agricultural issues as an appointed administrator make Josh a great fit for Region 7," Brooks said. "As the EPA's most agriculturally productive region, the heartland will benefit from his practical knowledge and proven track record in working with different interests."
As secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Svaty managed a $27 million budget, a 380 employee workforce and statutory duties for 17 programs.
He is the fifth-generation of his family to farm in Ellsworth County, Kan. The Svaty farm is a diversified operation that includes wheat, milo, soybeans, corn, sunflowers, a cow/calf herd and sheep. Svaty served as the State Representative of the 108th District in Kansas for seven years. His committee assignments included the committees for Energy and Utilities, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the joint committee on Energy and Environmental Policy. Svaty has testified before the U.S. Congress on agriculture, energy and water policy issues. He holds a B.A. from Sterling College in Sterling, Kan.
This region encompasses Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and nine Tribal Nations.


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December 20, 2005
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
WASHINGTON - The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to the U.S. Department of State asking that it urgently communicate with the German government to prevent the imminent involuntary deportation of thousands of particularly vulnerable asylum seekers from Germany to Afghanistan, including Hindu refugees who face the threat of violence upon return to Afghanistan. The imminent deportation of Afghan asylum seekers was announced earlier this month by authorities within the Federal Republic of Germany. The Afghan Hindu population was one of the most severely persecuted groups under the Taliban, and nearly all members of the community fled the country. Because the government in Kabul does not exercise full control over the country, and religious freedom and human rights abuses continue in regions outside of the central government's control, the Commission is concerned that these individuals will be subject to persecution if forced to return to Afghanistan. A Hindu aid worker from India, Maniyappan Raman Kutty, was recently brutally beheaded.
"In the event that the German government moves ahead with involuntary deportation, the Commission is urging the U.S. Refugee Program to prepare for the resettlement of Afghan Hindus and members of other particularly vulnerable groups in the United States, as was done with Bosnian refugees in the late 1990's when Germany launched their involuntary return at a time when other members of the international community considered it too unsafe to conduct involuntary repatriations to Bosnia," said USCIRF Chair Michael Cromartie.
The text of the letter to the State Department follows:
Dear Acting Assistant Secretary Greene:
I am writing on behalf of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to urge that the United States communicate and act urgently to prevent the imminent involuntary deportation from Germany to Afghanistan of particularly vulnerable asylum seekers, including Hindu refugees who face the threat of violence upon return to Afghanistan. The imminent deportation of Afghan asylum seekers was announced earlier this month by authorities within the Federal Republic of Germany. We ask that the United States urgently communicate with the Federal Republic of Germany to halt these deportations of vulnerable populations and, in addition, that the United States take steps similar to those it took in the late 1990s to allow applications for resettlement to the United States of Bosnian refugees who had been faced with the similar threat of forcible return and deportation from Germany.
As the Commission noted in its 2005 Annual Report, the government in Kabul does not yet exercise full control over the country. Religious freedom and human rights abuses persist in regions that are effectively outside of central government control, as was evidenced recently by the brutal beheading of Hindu aid worker Maniyappan Raman Kutty from India. These substantial security threats present a persistent danger to the establishment of democracy and the rule of law throughout Afghanistan.
Religious minorities - such as Hindus and Sikhs - were severely persecuted under the Taliban, and nearly all 50,000 of them fled the country. In official remarks made in Brussels earlier this year at the Strategic Consultations Convening on Refugee and Population Movements to and from Afghanistan, then-Assistant Secretary Dewey said "that there are likely to be a significant number of Afghans for whom voluntary repatriation will not be suitable." Assistant Secretary Dewey expressed that the United States would not like to see Afghan refugees being "put under pressure" to leave the major host countries of Iran and Pakistan.
We are now faced, however, with a situation where one of the most persecuted groups under the Taliban - the Afghan Hindu population - is facing forcible return by a third country: Germany. In Hamburg alone there are 12,000 Afghans, hundreds of them Hindus, who are now being threatened with deportation if they do not accept financial assistance to "voluntarily" return to Afghanistan.
While the German lander (states) move ahead with plans for imminent deportations, even the German Foreign Ministry reports that the situation for Afghans "continues unimproved countrywide" and that, in some provinces, "a return there is not possible without risk to life and limb."
This situation is not unprecedented. In the late 1990's, the German lander launched involuntary returns of Bosnian refugees at a time when other members of the international community considered it too unsafe to conduct involuntary repatriations. At that time, the United States government, after being unsuccessful in its efforts to discourage the Germans from conducting such deportations, established a processing priority for Bosnians in Germany, and saved many of them from deportation by allowing them to apply to the United States for resettlement. We would urge that the United States prevail upon the German government to stop returns of members of religious minorities persecuted under the Taliban.
To prepare for the possibility that this suggestion from the United States could go unheeded, we would also urge that the U.S. Refugee Program make preparations for the establishment of a resettlement processing priority for Afghan Hindus and members of other particularly vulnerable groups. This program could be based on the highly successful one established nearly a decade ago to protect Bosnian asylum seekers from premature deportations out of Germany.
We look forward to your timely attention to this imminent situation and to your response.
Michael Cromartie
cc: Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.
Michael Cromartie, Chair


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MUSTANG HOOFPRINTS: Finals approaching; seasons ending
Hello Mustang Fans!
Finals week at Southwest Minnesota State is next week.
The SMSU softball and women's golf teams concluded their seasons last weekend. The Mustang baseball team and women's and men's track and field teams are in the final week of regular season competition.
It is hard to believe we are coming to the end of another academic year and athletic season.
Lind selected as NSIC?commissioner
Great news from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, as Erin (Frye) Lind has been selected as the league's fifth full-time commissioner and beginning her duties July 1. Lind joined the NSIC staff in summer 2001 and has served as the NSIC associate commissioner and senior woman administrator since 2005.
Lind is a 2001 graduate of Southwest Minnesota State University, earning her bachelor's degree in sports management with minors in business management and coaching.
A starter for the Mustang women's basketball team from 1998-2001, Lind was a first-team All-NSIC selection. She ended her career as the school's seventh all-time leading scorer with 1,380 points and helped lead SMSU to the 2000-01 conference championship and its first NCAA tournament appearance.
For more information on this story, see Page 1B.
Mini Sports Camp was huge success
On Saturday, the SMSU Mustang Booster Club hosted the first "Mini Sports Camp" at the Schwan Regional Events Center and P.E. Gym. The event was a huge success with more than 70 campers participating in the camp.
A big thank you to all our staff members, coaches, membership drive committee members and student-athletes who took part in the planning and execution of this event. We were very happy with the number of kids who attended the camp and look forward to making the Mini Sports Camp an annual event to kickoff the Mustang Booster Club's membership drive.
Download app to follow Mustangs
The Southwest Minnesota State University Department of Athletics and sponsors, Aramark, Hy-Vee and Pepsi, are excited to announce a new way for fans to interact with the Mustangs on their mobile devices.
The Mustang app, which is now available for download, will not only allow you to keep updated with SMSU athletics, but will also allow you to earn rewards for attending Mustang events and receive great offers from Aramark Dining Services, Hy-Vee, and Pepsi.
The app, which is compatible with Apple devices and Android-based platforms, can be downloaded by searching, "Mustang app" in the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or any other app stores.
Another way you can download the Mustang app is to follow these instructions: Step 1, text Mustangs to 80802; Step 2, click the link in the text message you received; Step 3, download it from Application Store; Step 4, register for the application; Step 5, start earning rewards.
Drown SMSU Golf Classic
Save the date!
The 29th annual David and Carol Drown SMSU Golf Classic will be held June 20 at the Marshall Golf Club.
The Golf Classic is the next Mustang Booster Club fund-raising event, and the Golf Classic Committee will be convening in the next couple of weeks to begin the planning for this great event.
For all your information on SMSU athletics, visit our website: www.smsumustangs.com.
Upcoming SMSU athletic events
The SMSU baseball team (21-20 overall, 12-13 NSIC) is coming off a four-game road sweep of Minnesota-Crookston on Saturday and Sunday in NSIC action.
The Mustangs' doubleheader against Bemidji State, which was scheduled for Wednesday at Alumni Field, will be played today at Karras Park on the campus of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D.
SMSU ends the regular season on Saturday and Sunday with a four-game series versus Northern State at Alumni Field. The games are scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.
The Mustangs are currently in ninth place in the NSIC standings, heading into the last six games of the regular season with the top eight teams making the NSIC tournament.
Good luck to Coach Paul Blanchard and the Mustangs as they look to earn their way into postseason play.
The Mustang softball team (15-30-1, 12-17-1 NSIC) ended their season last weekend, going 2-0 versus Minnesota State-Moorhead on Friday and splitting with Northern State on Saturday.
SMSU finished the season in eleventh place in the NSIC with the top ten teams making the NSIC tournament.
I would like to thank seniors Kaley Searcy and Jennifer Johnson for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the SMSU softball program.
Women's Golf
The SMSU women's golf team concluded its season on Sunday with a sixth-place finish at the NSIC Championships at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club in Morton.
The Mustangs shot a final-round score of 363 on Sunday to finish with a four-round total of 1,419 strokes (267-over par).
The first two rounds of the championship were played last October at The Classic at Madden's in Brainerd.
Rachel Patnoe – playing her final collegiate round – led SMSU on Sunday with a 17-over 89 to finish tied for 16th overall with a 62-over 350. Becky Koepp shot a 19-over 91 today and recorded a 26th place finish at 73-over 361. Dana Wagner finished 27th overall with a 75-over 363, following a round of 22-over 94 on Sunday.
Abby Gruber shot a 20-over 92 on Sunday and finished 31st overall with an 80-over 368. Megan Will, who did not compete in the fall portion of the championship, shot rounds of 98 and 91 this weekend.
Wagner led SMSU during the season with an 85.5 stroke average in 16 rounds, including a pair of top five finishes.
I would like to thank our seniors Rachel Patnoe, Marissa Campeau and Trisha Kienitz for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the SMSU women's golf program.
Track and Field
The SMSU women's and men's track and field team's next competition will be at the Howard Wood Relays on Friday and Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D.
For the women's team, Rylee Armstrong competed in the NSIC Heptathlon held at Swisher Field hosted by Northern State University on Sunday and Monday, placing 14th with a total of 3,389 points. On Monday, Armstrong finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 16-feet, 11 1/2-inches, eighth in the javelin with a throw of 88-3 and 14th in the 800-meter run in 3-minutes, 17.53-seconds
On Sunday, Armstrong tied for fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5-1 to earn 678 points. She picked up 501 points with a fifth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 31-4 1/2.
Good luck to all of our SMSU teams competing this weekend!
Go Mustangs!
Trivia Contest
No one was able to provide the correct answer to last week's Mustang Hoofprint's Trivia Question: Who was the last SMSU female student-athlete to be awarded the Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award winner as the top female scholar-athlete in the NSIC?
In 2002, Christy Kubat (Brusven) was the Kelly Award recipient for her academic and athletic accomplishments at SMSU.
Trivia Question
Who holds the record for the longest triple jump in SMSU men's outdoor track and field?
The first person to email me at email@example.com with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU T-shirt.


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